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Nox
The Faith of Nox Nox Power Level Reduced Alignment N leaning towards NG Symbol Silhouette of a candlestick against a white star Domains Darkness, Family, Oracle, Trickery, Dream, Fate, Life, Death. "There also stands the gloomy house of Night; ghastly clouds shroud it in darkness. Before it Atlas stands erect and on his head and unwearying arms firmly supports the broad sky, where Night and Day cross a bronze threshold and then come close and great each other." Nox represents the night, beauty, and power. She is the Goddess of night, dreams. sleep, darkness, and the natural order of life and its certainties. She represents the night because when the sunsets, she sets out on her chariot, with the darkness trailing behind. She represents beauty because she was beautiful and portrayed as one of the most beautiful goddesses on the face of the earth. And power is one of her values because both gods and men feared her greatly. She is said to be one of the first creatures to come into existence. Nox's home is a gloomy temple in the depths of the shadow plane. During the day, Nox takes care of her many spirited children. In the evening every day she leave her home to start her nightly journey. Her travels cover the day with darkness to allow the world to rest. Her beauty has a rather large affect on mortal men and gods, and as a result, she was said to have her own large share of divine children. She is daughter of Chaos, who was said to be the foundation of the creation of the gods. By being born into his family, this alone gave her the quality to be feared by many. She could be helpful or harmful to mankind, bringing either sleep or death but not from spite as death is the natural order for all mortals. So fragile is the line between sleep and death, the difference only waking with the dawn. In that darkness she reigns, as the sun sinks below the horizon, as stalkers hunt their prey, as shadows thicken to consume the light. She was primal in a way that even the mightiest of Gods must fear, for she was the Goddess of Night, Nox, and from her was born all the certainties of life. Friendship and Love, Sunsets and Dreams, these are the Gods of inspiration. Nox was mother to them all. So too was she the mother of misfortune: Doom and Blame, Deceit, Strife, Woe and Death. Nox did love and protect all her children equally, as any mother would. They are her calling and her curse; her greatest pride and deepest shame. It is for her children she has now come back from ennui. Forgotten and lost to the passing of time Nox has now returned to the multiverse albeit much diminished for a terrible disturbance in the forces of the multiverse bring Nox back from the darkness. Clothed not in black, but blackness, Nox is rarely seen. Now in the from of a human woman she moves through the world to regain her strength and might. She seeks to reclaim her place as the night incarnate and find the disturbance that awoke her and reunite with her children. The Nyctelius The Nyctelius is the book on which the Church of Nox that remain base their faith. It has basic precedents which are explained in detail through each chapter as the guidelines to live and worship the night goddess by. 1) Embrace the Natural Order. Mortal life is fleeting but it should be accepted with all its ups and downs. This is best represented in her children who represent the forces of merciless might, mindless slaughter and hatred, but they also represent justice, vengeance and honour. Without them there would be no honesty or strength to fight against injustice. Some are cruel, tortuous fiends that break the mind and inflicts untold suffering, but others also exude just as much joy, freedom, expression, and happiness; representing emotional extremes ranging from joyful freedom to crippling suffering. Without them, there would be no happiness, and no grief to make the happy times mean anything. From birth to death, this is the natural order of the human experience. Nor would there would be inevitable cycle of decay and renewal without change, yet they are the resilience, resolve, and solidarity to face that same unsettling inevitability. Without them there would be no consistency, safety, or comfort in living or dying. These are essential facets of mortal life. Without them the heavens are no reward and the hell's are no punishment. This is the most important lesson in the Nyctelius but also one of the hardest to understand and accept. 2)Allow the Dead their Peace. Nercomancy disturbs the natural order, the dead have earned their piece or damnation and should be left to their fate. Necromancy is banned in the Church of Nox and the undead should be given their rest, some are often raised against their will and should be helped find ease in the nights cool embrace but for those who willingly seek it, they have cast aside the gift of life and should be thoroughly destroyed. 3)The Importance of Dreams. Dreams are highly personal and have the most significance to the individual dreaming them. This being said, dreams do often have elements of prophecy to them and may show one their future or omens of events to come and they may often be an unconscious reflection of ones internal anxieties, fears, desires, hopes and fantasies. The Church of Nox places great stock in the interpretation of dreams and often seek to enter a waking dream state to commune with Nox herself and understand her wishes. 4)The Importance of Family. There is no greater gift then children in the eyes of Nox and she urges her followers to procreate and become good parents and to learn to forgive their children's faults and bestow unto them good lessons and respect for all including Nox. For the mortal experience is more richer shared with another person and it is the natural order to love and procreate in the eyes of Nox. Material Wealth does not reciprocate the love mortals may have for it and poor is the man with no to love him no matter who deep his coffers are. 5)The Nights Dark Embrace This is considered the strangest of the concepts of the Nyctelius and thus many spend hours upon it. The dark is not something to be afraid nor more then one should embrace the light. The duality of the mortal soul is important to the Church of Nox. Many mortals fail in this recognition to their downfall. The negative states of emotion become negative because mortals don't accept them and process them correctly. A man can be justifiably angry, men can hate, men can feel jealousy. Its how one acts under these feelings is what builds character or defiles it. The Nyctelius states unlike many other faiths that negative feelings denote a need for constructive change. Evil acts are a choice and negative feelings need not end in such acts nor do they justify them. As regards the opposite end of the spectrum, blindly doing whats good without thinking for yourself constitutes stupidity and fanaticism. Why kill an evil doer when he could repent and serve penance to serve as an example to others? This viewpoint often brings believers into conflict with more militant religions who believe in purging evil with fire and steel. 6) Courage Conflict is what life depends on. This struggle is vital as it brings about change and without change their can be no growth, for the world does not run without it. However, in a world without this conflict men could not face the terrible fears and crippling adversity and seek out hope. Certainly, they could keep walking onward by merely living, but that would be very different from walking onward while conquering their own fears and fighting against such conflict. That is why we give the act of fighting a special name. We call it 'courage'. It takes courage to truly live and never to give up hope.